How ‘Law & Order: SVU’ achieved the impossible with its 600th episode

“Some partnerships don’t end.”

It’s a quote Fin d’Ice-T said on Thursday night’s 600th episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” — and one that means more than just Benson and Stabler’s partnership.

The same could be said of Mariska Hargitay and Dick Wolf. The two have worked together since the show began in 1999. “People use the word ‘family,'” Hargitay says. But for the cast and crew of “SVU,” many of whom have been there since the beginning, it’s true. “Love them, love them…I go to work and we kiss, and it’s real. It feels like we’re going to a nice dinner when we go to work on Monday.”

After the Universal Television series’ 600th episode wrapped, Wolf gathered the cast and crew for a proper dinner, including the current cast and crew, Wolf’s COO Peter Jankowski and Christopher Meloni. Wolf gave a speech at the start of the evening, standing up to tell the group: “This has never happened and it will never happen again.” »

In an era where a 100-episode series is a major achievement, Hargitay never saw a world in which the NBC series would reach 600. But Wolf did, she says. And it was part of the speech she gave that night to her “SVU” family.

“It really doesn’t feel totally real, which in a way is exactly what it should be, because it’s like we’re all living in this dream of what you thought would be possible one day. You’ve shown that not only is it possible, but it’s so much better than anyone could have imagined,” she told Wolf. “If someone told me there was a show that had been on the air for 600 episodes, I’d be like, ‘Really?’ It must be tired. It must be hissing. They have to be operating at full capacity, or else they’re catering to an insane audience that keeps coming back for some unknown reason. But here we are with a show that is healthy, muscular, fresh, intelligent, honest and so important. And yes, people keep coming back, but not for an unknown reason.

She continued: “They come back because you started something very special that we have all had the great privilege of continuing all these years.”

For Hargitay, she can’t help but think fondly of the love and respect the group has for each other and the environment they have all created. It’s an environment where guest stars thrive – just look at their roster over the last 600 episodes – and always praise them when they arrive and leave the show.

“People are happy to be there. I like to create a space that’s conducive to creation, and I like to create a space where people feel safe enough to try, to take risks, to play and squat, and to know that we’re not playing here,” she says. “This is someone’s life. It’s serious and these are important stories. I’m very grateful.”

For the landmark episode, written by showrunner Michele Fazekas and directed by Brenna Malloy, jury consultant Gwen Sharpe (J. Smith-Cameron) convinces Benson to re-examine an old case that put a man in prison for a rape and murder in 1998. When Benson returns, she realizes that she worked on the case with Stabler (Christopher Meloni). Hesitant at first – since he failed to follow up on leads that could have revealed the truth and excluded Benson from interrogation – Stabler eventually joined Benson to help him.

Even though they haven’t worked together in years, he can’t wait to join her on a road trip to dig deeper and put the right person behind bars. Captain Renee Curry steps in and says, “With respect, Captain, he’s not your partner anymore. You don’t need his buy-in.” Fin quickly responds, “It doesn’t matter. Some partnerships don’t end, even when they do.”

The story stirs up complicated feelings in Benson and Stabler, as she realizes (and tells him), “I let you shut me out…I have to live with the fact that I didn’t do the right thing because I was new, that I didn’t follow my instincts because I thought you knew better.”

For the first time with him, she really uses his voice and discovers how different they are from how they were when they worked together. And that’s okay, because this partnership is forever.

The episode lasted almost 12 minutes, Hargitay said. “It was a big deal. We were writing and rewriting and acting, and we had to shoot certain scenes before we knew exactly what a scene was going to be, so there were a lot of different ways to do it. But it’s an embarrassment of riches.”